Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) vs Patty Hou (侯佩岑)

Fans of popular culture have ringside seats to a slugfest between some of the biggest names in show business this week.

Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) and Patty Hou (侯佩岑), two former beaus, reportedly, of Jay Chou (周杰倫), are following 50 Cent and Kanye West’s lead and battling it out with their latest releases.

Tsai, who reportedly lost her former squeeze to Hou, appeared to kick Hou right where it hurts – on the career front.

Tsai continues on an upward path with her upcoming album Agent J (特務J), for which she traded in her dreamy princess look for that of a dominatrix complete with latex gear and an exaggerated bustier. The album has racked up over 50,000 prerelease orders.

Hou, former anchorwoman and talk show hostess, has decided to crossover – into acting. She is starring in the TV romance series Delicious Relation (美味關係), which aired its pilot episode Sunday. According to A.C. Nielson, a marketing and TV rating company, Delicious Relation was trumped by another new romance series, Romantic Princess (公主小妹), which stars rising pop starlet Angela Chang (張韶涵), 1.67 rating points to 3.33 points.

Worse was to come. Variety show Sunday 8pm Gang (周日八點黨) fired a broadside by extending its airtime 15 minutes with a slot featuring Tsai, which coincided with Hou’s acting debut. Tsai’s 15-minute appearance on the variety show garnered a 4.45 points rating, which outshone Hou’s acting stint, which mustered a measly 1.72 points, according to A.C. Nielson.